"Check your partnership and your private life. Divide it up. Everything: children, household, job"
Petra Dreyfus has been co-CEO, COO and owner of the Wirz agency for over a year. She is the second leader to speak out about the position of women in the Swiss advertising industry.
Werbewoche: Why aren't there more women in the executive ranks of the communications industry?
Petra Dreyfus: There are not only too few women in management positions in the communications industry - unfortunately, this is a global and cross-industry problem. In my opinion, one of the main reasons for this is that it is still difficult to balance family and career. And then, of course, there is still the glass-ceiling effect: companies that are built on male rope teams, work structures that primarily benefit men, a management culture that rewards "male" characteristics and so on.
How many women work in your agency and how many men?
Just over half of our employees are women.
Does your agency have equal pay?
Of course, and that is very important to us. Remuneration is based on performance and not gender.
Suppose your agency introduces a women's quota. What do you think of that?
I'm not a fan of quotas, but now I sometimes think that it might be the right way to go after all - at least to really get things moving. Ultimately, however, social attitudes need to change and both men and women need to rethink.
What would have to change to make it easier for women to reconcile family and career?
Men should feel more responsible at home. They would also have to take the children to nursery, clean, tidy up, shop and cook. Then the work around the house and the children would be fairly distributed and men and women would have the same double burden. In other words: men to the stove!
If you were a man - would you be in a different position today?
No, I think I have my job because of my skills and expertise - and as a man I would have the same. Or would I not?
What can men do better - in relation to your professional environment?
Maybe talking to each other in the toilet. We women tend to do that less. I find it difficult to generalize. But men tend to be more self-confident and therefore have more confidence. And they laugh louder at their manager's jokes, even if they're not funny at all.
What can women do better?
Here too - can gender be broken down into a few characteristics? Perhaps we learn more quickly because we are more likely to doubt ourselves and think about what could be done better or differently.
Why are there more advertisers of the year than advertisers of the year?
This simply reflects the management team, in which there are significantly more men than women.
Which professional colleague has impressed you the most in her career so far?
They are women like Nadine Borter and Regula Bührer Fecker who are still working full-time with children. Two strong, modern and very successful women who are also going their own way professionally. I think they're really cool.
Have you - in relation to your professional career - ever had negative experiences that you would not have had as a man?
As a working mother, I am constantly asked - usually reproachfully - how I reconcile my job and children, whether my children still see me at all - with the underlying tone "the poor neglected children". And I'm asked this by men, most of whom also work and have children. It's bizarre, isn't it? The worst thing about it is that it always made me feel guilty.
What advice do you have for young women who want to enter this industry and reach your position in the medium to long term?
Take the path that feels right for you. Don't let others influence you negatively or make you feel insecure. Have the confidence to pursue a career. And above all: examine your partnership and your private life. Divide it up. Everything: children, household, job. Don't let the fact that you do the shopping, cook and iron the guy's shirts get in the way. Otherwise you'll end up with a double or triple burden and you'll fall by the wayside. And the man can concentrate on his job.
Do you recommend that young women enter your industry?
Of course. Our industry is extremely diverse and exciting.
What do you think of the gender discussion in your industry in general?
Unfortunately, it is still relevant. It will only be over when we women no longer have to have this discussion, such questions have become obsolete and/or men are asked how they reconcile work and family life and whether their poor children get to see them at all.
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